THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Congress is hoping to fish in troubled waters by wooing the CPI into the UDF fold in the wake of the increasing frictions between the CPI and the CPM on many issues. A day after Congress MLA Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan invited the CPI to join hands with the Congress, KPCC vice-resident V.D. Satheesan, MLA, said history was being repeated like in the case of the second EMS ministry which fell in 1969 due to the row between the alliance partners.
The two CPI ministers then, T. V. Thomas and M. N. Govindan Nair, were accused of corruption. Now, CPM power minister M.M. Mani has lashed out at CPI ministers on the Munnar Neelakurinji issue and raised bribery charges against them, said Mr Satheesan. On the Thomas Chandy issue also, the CPI and the CPM were at loggerheads. Though CPI general secretary S. Sudhakar Reddy wanted Mr Chandy to resign, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan protected him until the CPI ministers boycotted the cabinet meeting. All these showed that the LDF was falling apart, he told this paper.
Referring to CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran's comment that no sane person will join hands with the Congress, Mr Satheesan said that they had decided to work together only at the national level to fight the BJP's fascist policies. Though the Congress had decided to support CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury for the Rajya Sabha seat, Mr Pinarayi Vijayan and his coterie scuttled the move.
The KPCC leadership feels that while the rank and file of the CPI are keen on an alliance with the Congress, a section of the CPM-CPI leadership is opposed to it. "The UDF is getting stronger with the Padayorukkam march being led by Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala, which started from Kasaragod on November 1 and will conclude at Shanghumugham beach here on December 1," he said. The rally reached Kollam district on Monday. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will attend the concluding function.
